


Lights and Spaces

by Allonsy86



Series: Fletchings and Arrowheads [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 5 Times, Am I doing this right?, F/M, I Don't Even Know, Kidnapping, Past Relationship(s), Slow Burn, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 00:28:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2752787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allonsy86/pseuds/Allonsy86
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The 5 times Oliver rescued Felicity and the one time she rescued him.<br/>(I'm discovering I'm rather crap at summaries. So sorry.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Light Bulb

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'd been saving to start this until the first of the year. But with that mid-season finale and all the speculation that will come... I figure what the heck. No time like the present, right? After all, who knows how we'll feel in January.
> 
> Be gentle with me, kind readers. I'm a new at posting and sharing my work online. I like to tweak things until they are just right (to me, anyways) so fair warning: posting will be sporadic. Especially if the muses don't agree. (I'm still working on chapter two. Chapter 3 has become it's own delightful monster while four and five wrote themselves and wait patiently for their turn like good little works of fiction.) 
> 
> M-rating just to be on the safe side what with the swearing and all. 
> 
> Things to know about Chapter 1 are that it takes place between seasons 2 and 3 and the stuff in italics are in the character's head. (Please let me know if this is confusing! I'll rework it in future chapters if it is.) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

SLAP!

 

Her head turned violently to the right, left cheek stinging. Tears burned in her eyes.

 

And yet, Felicity still chuckled.

 

"Oh boy have you done it now," she said slowly. "Messing with the goods. He's not going to be gentle with you."

 

SLAP!

 

"Nope, he's not going to like it at all." Blood trickled down from her nose, drops spilling on her new, light blue skirt. "Figures. First wear and it’s already stained." She gave a little sigh. If only she could wipe off her face, but her hands were tied to the chair. 

 

"Who is he, bitch?" A thug yelled as another man approached from a dark corner of the basement. He was dressed in a suit -- far too dressed up for this occasion. _Was that out loud? Oh, right, who he is…_ Felicity shook herself from her mental fog.

 

"The Arrow," she gave a wry smile. The thug moved in and gave a good jab to her stomach. It hurt but Felicity stayed strong.

 

The well-dressed man folded his arms in front of him. "Yes, Miss Smoak. See my man here is well versed in all sorts of…" he pursed his lips together as if in thought, "…ways to extract the information we need." He knelt down beside the chair.

 

A light bulb went off in her head.

 

"You want to know who he is?" She asked, a manic grin plastered on her face. "Who the Arrow really is?" The well-dressed man looked exasperated.  "He's Richard Todd," she whispered.

 

The men looked at each other.

 

"Who?" The thug asked.

 

"He's Richard Gautier."

 

The well-dressed man frowned. "A man with two aliases?"

 

"Kevin Costner. Frank Sinatra. Cary Elwes, who is my personal favorite but not that you'd care." The men scowled. Felicity kept grinning as she watched the thug flex his hand.

 

"He's Russell Crowe," she giggled. "Ha ha, Russell Crowe, oh god it was terrible."

 

The thug clenched his fist. "Very funny, lady. Now you're in for it."

 

"Oh, big fan of Russell then." The thug advanced. "The Arrow is…..Robin Hood!" She yelled, a manic laugh echoing in the dank basement. _Thank you, inventor of IMDB!_

 

"She's crazy. He's not Robin Hood," the thug said to his boss, hand slightly shaking with rage.

 

The well-dressed man exhaled. "It's just the drugs. Keep her talking and she'll babble it out in a minute. "He leaned in a little closer, stroking her bruising cheek. "Won't you, sweetheart?"

 

Felicity nodded, her grin widening. "You'll let me go if I tell you?" The man nodded. "Alright. Come closer and I'll tell you." The men leaned in.

 

"Closer," she whispered to the man in charge. He leaned in, his hot breath ghosting on her cheek. How she didn't flinch, she'd never know. 

 

She moved forward to whisper in the man's ear, smelling his cheap cologne and cigar smoke. "He's..." She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "Behind. You."

 

He jerked back but Felicity was quicker. She whipped her head forward, more feeling rather than hearing the sickening crunch of a nose breaking. The well-dressed man toppled forward, clutching his face.

 

The thug dropped as well, screaming as he reached down. An arrow with familiar evergreen fletching protruded from his ankle. Her vision blurred as she heard a bow crack the back of two heads.

 

"Arrow?" She whispered. A glove swept across her right cheek before it reached down to undo her bindings.

 

"Yeah, we're here. Let's work on getting you home, okay? Dig's calling it in now. Arsenal's going to watch as they roll up." He gripped her hand. "I'll see you soon." After the whisper, he was gone.

 

 

Sirens rang in the distance as she allowed herself to unravel, just a little bit. A few tears shed as she waited for her 'rescue' . Felicity knew in her haze that she kept all her secrets. For that, she was able to smile through the tears.

 

Detective Lance came and ultimately 'rescued' her. She gave a brief statement which included 'and after I head butted the well-dressed dude, the Arrow swooped in and saved me.  In a very un-Robin Hood like fashion, I should add' and then she was whisked into an ambulance.

 

Felicity was put up in what used to be the Queen wing of Starling General. Lying in bed, images of her eight hour ordeal played through her mind: Getting kidnapped from the parking deck at work, being driven around in the back of a van with her hands bound and head in a sack, tied down to the chair, the thug injecting her with their own truth serum… _How was this still the Queen wing anyway? And receiving her own room with private care? It's not like she had loads of money like they….used to._

 

"Old habits die hard," Oliver said from the doorway. _Oh crap. That was out loud, wasn't it._ "Someday they'll rename this wing. Especially when they remember I don't have enough money to donate to their next project."

 

"Ha," she mocked, voice raspy. "Careful. Serum hasn't worn off yet. Supposed  to last another hour, I think. I've babbled a bit, mostly about nothing. But apparently I can't hold in innuendos according to the hot male nurse who is insanely attractive but not as attractive as you." Her eyes bugged a little bit. " Oh God. One, two, three, four, five. It just won't stop." She clamped a hand over her mouth.

 

Oliver made his way to her bed. "Robin Hood, huh?" She nodded, hand still firmly on her mouth. "Clever. You had to keep them busy." He raised a hand to her left cheek, winced as he inspected the bruise, and then carefully cupped her face. " You got hurt. I'm sorry we weren't quick enough."

 

"Not your fault," she said with certainty. Tilting her head into his hand, she looked up. "Tell me Dig saw my headbutt. It was just like he taught me. Dude went down like a sack of potatoes. I've never done that before. It was pretty cool. I bet you liked it too. One, two, three…" Felicity pressed her lips together.

 

He nodded, caressing the bruise beginning on her cheek bone, just below her eye. "He sure did and I'm sure he's proud. I am. You caused an excellent distraction too. If Roy wasn't so happy that you're ok, he'd be complaining about the lack of heroics he got to do earlier tonight."

 

She chuckled. Oliver's hand stilled. Their eyes met and she could tell he was concerned. "You okay?"

 

Felicity swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, we got lucky this time. Thanks for being there."

 

His voice dropped to a rough whisper.

 

 "Always."

 


	2. Free Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. Can we all agree that writer's block and technology sucks? So sorry I haven't posted anything recently. I can give you the oh woe is me story, lack of wanting to write anything until the end of Season 3 or the fact that my computer is moving slower than molasses and updating on my phone isn't in the cards, but I'll spare everyone the excuses. I meant to update this earlier. Good news is that I've got the other chapters ready to go. My goal is to post one every week. 
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos and comments from the last chapter. I truly appreciate it. It's taken me a few years to get to a point where I'd actually WANT to post any of my writing so it's nice to see people reading and commenting. Any of the spelling mistakes are mine (but you'll find in this chapter, it adds to it). I'm still experimenting and trying to find voices and put them in interesting situations. Rather than agonize about the chapter anymore, here it is. Oh, and let's just call it AU from here on out. I'll update the Tags.
> 
> tl;dr: Sorry about the wait, life and technology sucks, thanks for the love, it's considered AU and probably OOC.

"Yo, yo, yo, playa!"

 

"Felicity. What are you doing with your hands?"

 

"Gang signs, Roy. Ya gotta throw down who you're reppin', yah know what I'm sayin'? I thought you were street, Abercrombie?" She scoffed as she tried, and failed to form signs. Miserably.

 

"I don't know what street that was supposed to be, but," Roy wiped the bar beside her and smoothly removed her shot glass, holding it on his side of the bar. "You're cut off."

 

"Hey!"

 

"Go home, Blondie, you're drunk." He smirked. It hadn't taken her long to get that way too, what with the whiskey shooters and amaretto sours.

 

Her face fell. "Can't go home. Have no home." Roy frowned. He took in her appearance. Tonight, it was t-shirt and jeans. A far cry from what she usually wore. Something was off.  

 

"Come again?" Her glass hit the far in his confusion. She quickly grabbed it.

 

"I broke up with Ray. At my apartment. The one I'm moving out of next week- um, this weekend. Tomorrow, actually. To move in with…"she moaned.

 

"Ray," he finished. She saluted him with her shot before downing it.

 

He sighed and pulled out his phone.

 

"Don't text him," she grumbled.

 

"I'm not," he tightly smiled, gliding his thumb across the screen and finding the contact. "Laurel texted me half an hour ago about shopping for Thea's birthday next month. I'm just now getting around to texting her back."

 

IT DRUNK OVER RP. HELP.

 

"You men. I can always see through your lies," she huffed. " All of them. Oliber- Oliver's, yours, Dig's…. That…. Stupid boy I dated." Felicity attempted to grab her purse from the bar but Roy beat her to it. "I need money for the cab and hotel, Harper. I won't be driving home. The movers come at 9. I have 7 hours to get home and sleep. Hand it over." 

 

"Look, Felicity, I don't think --," she raised her hand to him.

 

"Stop right there, Abercombay. Abercrump. Frak. Expensive teen store that smells way too good for my comfort. I am fully capable of taking care of myself."

 

She slid off the stool and promptly fell to the ground. Hard.

 

"Ow." Her ankle began to throb. She closed her eyes against the pain and opened them to see expensive shoes. Familiar, expensive shoes.

 

"Go away, Oliber," she groaned.

 

Oliver looked to Roy, who passed her purse to the woman. "How'd she get this far?"

 

"I don't think this is her first stop," he shrugged his shoulders.

 

The older man gave a sharp nod. "Let's get you home." He reached down and picked her up, one broad hand on her back while the other slid under her knees. He cradled her to him.

 

"Can't go home." He looked to Roy, brow furrowed.

 

"She broke up with Palmer there. And apparently her lease is up. Movers come in the morning."

 

"Homeless," she grumbled, clutching tighter to her purse.

 

Oliver sighed. "Thanks for letting me know, Roy."

 

"Anytime, boss man. We've got to look after our girl," he gave a sly smile.

 

"Nowhere to go," he sighed at her grumbling.

 

"We have a guest room at the loft. It's yours until you figure out what you want to do," he softly offered as he made his way outside. The cool air made her shiver. She burrowed into Oliver's hold. "Did you drive?"

 

She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nope. Mandatory taxi when hebily, heplily, ugh, drinkin post break up."

 

"At least you had one good idea tonight."

 

"Thanks Oliber," she scoffed.

 

"Anytime."

 

He bundled her into his car and began the drive home. Felicity looked out the window. It took a while but he realized this was the first time she'd been completely quiet around him. No babbling or witty joke. No threat to his man hood or quip about his suit. No reaffirmation of how she couldn't be a woman he loved.

 

It was unsettling if he were honest with himself.  At a stop light, he glanced over and say her eyes were closed. Asleep, he thought, that explains it.

 

"I don't want to be a Shakespearean tragedy," she breathed softly against the window, cutting into the unfamiliar silence. "And I feel that's how my life is. The girl who can't get the guy. I'll end up dying alone, or, if I'm really lucky, misinterpreting things and taking poison or something."

 

Pulling up to his building, Oliver put the car in park and turned to face her. "Come on, Felicity. I imagined you'd be a happy drunk, not maudlin."

 

"Right, cuz I have to be bubbly all the time. Whelp, Sir Broods-A-LOT, life is like a box of chocolates. Some people like coconut. Others like the shitty raspberry crème. It's roulette if you're allergic to nuts. But you always gamble when you reach into the box. And I keep getting the shitty raspberry crème." She opened the door and got caught in her seat belt.

 

"Well, could be worse. You could have gotten the nuts." Oliver gave a small sigh as he exited the car. Taking in his charge and his flailing arms, he quickly halted her movements with one hand and unbuckled her seat belt.  She pushed him back and spilled out of the car, legs askew like a newborn fawn.

 

"Let me help," he said, picking her up again and taking her inside the building.

 

In a moment of clarity in the lobby, her eyes went wide. "Why do I always fall for the wrong guy? They either want me for my brains or just my looks or they want me to do them a favor and in the not fun, non-sexual way, mind you. They don't want all of me. Or maybe they never wanted me at all."

 

"What?" His voice lowered, bordering on the tone he used when he threatened criminals. "Felicity, what are you…"

 

"He used me," she said in a tiny voice. "Used my brain, got what he wanted and asked for more."

 

Oliver frowned. Used. Felicity didn't mean… "How?" He deposited her in front of the door as he unlocked it.

 

"Made me think I was important, but all he wanted was a sewer." He picked her up and headed inside.

 

"Sewer? Palmer wanted a sewer?"

 

"Suite? Google, my mind. Clothes. You wore them a lot. Well, back when you were CEO. Not on the salmon ladder. And not that I'm complaining. Because who would complain about that. I certainly wouldn't."

 

"Suit?" He opened the door to the guest bedroom and gently situated her on the bed.

 

Felicity smirked drunkenly, "Jackpot." Her face turned serious and Oliver steeled himself for a bout of sickness. "I was the substitute for his wife, girlfriend, fiancée, whatever. And he reminded me of it every day. But still, I stayed. All because I thought he liked me. Turns out, he just needed me to work on that stupid suit."

 

A sinking feeling developed in his stomach. "Is that how you view me? That I'm using you?"

 

She looked up at him with wide, wet eyes. "No. You brought me to work on a team, one where you wanted opinions and took our views somewhat seriously at times. Ray needed my technical mind to get past his roadblocks. You needed me to get places but you've let me call some shots."

 

"Palmer made you VP. I made you a secretary."

 

"You brought me out of being an underappreciated IT girl in a global corporation to a secretary with a state of the art system to help save a city. Plus, Palmer manipulated me. I can't go back there."

 

Oliver shrugged. "Maybe now you could actually get some work done.  Applied Sciences work, not Ray's special project."

 

Felicity hummed and took off her shoes.

 

"Do you need anything?" he asked, heading back to the door.

 

"Just for today to be over," she collapsed on the pillow.

 

"Sleep well Felicity."

 

"Hey Oliver. Thanks for rescuing me tonight."

 

Oliver gave a hint of a smile as he headed out. "You're very welcome. And hey, don't worry about Palmer. He didn't know what he had."

 

She smiled sleepily and closed her eyes. "The men I've dated usually don't." Oliver stayed at the doorway for a few moments, long enough to hear the soft snores from the bed. He then shut the door and walked down the hall to his room, sighing.

 

"You're wrong. At least one of them does." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> I'm also doing a series of drabbles/one-shots that I'll be posting shortly. I have a few of them saved up. They are mostly based on dialogue writing prompts I've found on Pinterest. BUT, if you've got something you've wanted to read but haven't, I'm happy to take a stab at it. Just leave a prompt in the comments. Might take a while with the muse, but I'll be sure to give you credit for the prompt. (It's worth nothing that I'm not going to be writing smut. Innuendo yes, I just don't write smut very well.)


	3. Fading Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This one has some blood loss. Just in case you'd prefer not to read about that. 
> 
> Italics are inner monologue. Again, AU so they are OOC.

A deafening bang sounded in the room.

 

"Felicity? FELICITY!"

 

Her eyes widened in surprise, meeting Oliver's - the look of terror in his eyes had her confused. She felt…strange. Then, there was a distinct wet feeling in her gut, moving quickly towards her feet. _What's going on? I didn’t spill anything, did I?_

 

_Oh no._

 

Peeling back her jacket, Felicity saw crimson spread across her blouse, the soft sage turning red fast.

 

Too fast.

 

She'd been hit. _How? All the bad guys were down!_  She slowly became aware of feeling weightless, falling ever so slowly. Her legs felt heavy and her arms weren't responding.

 

Instead of hitting the ground, she was jolted back up. The action sent white hot pain from her belly to her chest.

 

_What's that sound? Someone needs help. We have to stop her screa- Oh. It's me._

 

The howling subsided as Oliver gently guided her down to the ground, his hand firmly placed over her wound.

 

"Felicity," he whispered. She could hear whimpers and his heavy breathing. She felt vaguely disconnected from the whole situation. A sharp shake of her arm brought her staring into familiar ice-blue eyes.

 

"Felicity, the bullet must've nicked something. We're going to get you an ambulance," Diggle said, coming into view beside Oliver.

 

"Barry," she heard herself whisper. Diggle nodded, pulling out his cell phone.

 

"Felicity," Oliver grunted. _He keeps saying my name like….like it'll be the last. Why?_ "Please be ok. Please." The ice-blue eyes became wet and fuzzy. His face became fuzzy.  "Please."

 

She smiled a bit and leaned into the gloved hand on her face. Wind whipped around her and suddenly she felt as if she were flying.

 

Just as quickly as the sensation started it ended. Bright lights and raised voices filled her senses.  Through it all, she could hear moaning and howling. _Still me._ Pain blossomed. The room quieted down and everything became slightly dimmer.

 

Blissfully, she greeted the darkness. The quiet calm running over her like a balm.

 

\--

 

A soft hiss roused her from her slumber. Harsh light met her as she peeked her eyes open. A moan slipped from her slips as she stirred and her eyes slammed shut.

 

"Shhh," a soothing voice hushed her. Felicity concentrated on the brush of fingertips on her knuckles. _One brush, two brush, ooo a swirl, this is nice._  She felt good, too good in fact. Her eyes protested as she slowly opened them. The light was dimmed. She tried to focus on something, anything in the blurred room.

 

"Thought I'd at least have clear vision in heaven," she murmured.

 

A wet chuckle escaped from someone in the room. "It's because you're still on Earth."

 

Her eyes tracked the room until she saw a familiar grey blob by her bedside. "Hi Oliver," she grinned. "Dig gave me an aspirin, didn't he?"

 

"No, you're in the hospital. Again. They gave you the good stuff."

 

She hummed. "I wonder if they give frequent flier miles to patients." _Frequent flyer miles…. Barry!!_ "We need to send Barry a fruit basket."

 

The hand moved from her knuckles to her cheek. "You okay?"

 

"Perfect. I'm flying. Just don't let them stop giving me the good stuff anytime soon," she smiled, her eyes fluttering shut.

 

"I think being shot in the stomach allows it," he softly agreed. "So I wouldn't worry about it."

 

Felicity opened her eyes again. "Glasses?" The hand moved. Her eyes closed again. "The nice medicine won't let me stay awake," she pouted.

 

Suddenly a familiar weight returned to her face, gently being adjusted until it was just right. This time, she opened her eyes and could truly see Oliver. His concern present on his face - not even trying to contain it. _Oh Oliver. It's not your fault._

 

"We have to stop meeting like this," she mused. Oliver tried to grin but failed, eyes shining with unshed tears. "Hey. I'm going to be okay. Might be out of commission for a few days -"

 

"Weeks."

 

"But I'm here and I'll get better." He nodded as he gripped her hand. "I'm here."

 

It was sobering to see Oliver so close to losing it. She knew it meant they had been that close to losing her.

 

"Oliver?" she asked, "Can you slide me over?" His puzzled look made her pout. "I want a cuddle. I think you can use one too."

 

He gave a swift nod then gently helped her move to the left side of the bed, protecting her stomach from being jostled. Then, carefully, he sat on the unoccupied side and removed his shoes. Oliver laid down, placing his head on her shoulder and draping an arm on her lower belly, away from her wound. Her arm snaked around his neck, landing on his back.

They were still for a few minutes, relishing the quiet. 

 

"The bullet missed the major organs," he whispered in her ear." Just nicked a couple of big blood vessels very close to the aorta. Enough to be concerned with blood loss." Her right hand rubbed up and down his back, soothing him as he told her.

 

"Shh," She sighed. "I'm not going anywhere."

 

His body shuddered. "Promise me."

 

Her hand trailed along his side. "We can't promise each other that, Oliver. One of us will eventually leave. And not by choice."

 

He grunted and she could feel him swallow. "Not any time soon though," his voice thick with emotion.

 

She squeezed his side. "Not if we can help it." The lay in silence for a moment before Oliver looked up.

 

"I'm not dangling maybes anymore, Felicity." She could barely hear him but  - _oh that smile. We need you to smile more, mister._ Felicity felt her face light up and fought against the drowsiness.

 

"I expect to be wooed, Mr. Queen. My favorite flowers are red Gerber daisies, I like any chocolate as long as there are no nuts, and I'll eat anything as long as there's meat in the dish. No vegan stuff. Girl needs her red meat. And there's the unintentional innuendo," she teased. Then she got serious.

 

"We're going this Oliver. We're really doing this and it's going to work."

 

He nodded, returning his head to her shoulder. She relished the weight of him pressed up against her and the feel of his arm over her belly.

 

"I can get used to this." _Oops, totally said that out loud._

 

"Me too." She could feel his lips curve on her shoulder.

 

She felt herself slip off into dreamland. "Hey Ol'vr? Who do you think won the pool?"

 

He tensed. "What pool?"

 

"Oh come on. There's gotta be a work pool on when we were officially getting together. Not that we are a work place or anything. Well, close enough."

 

"I don't think- "

 

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We both won." She was rewarded with a chuckle and a kiss to the cheek.

 

\--

Two days after they told their friends they were dating, Diggle collected his money. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks again to all you wonderfully lovely people for reading. I truly appreciate all the kudos and comments on all the chapters. 
> 
> It makes me want to continue writing. :) I'm posting a few incredibly random drabbles tomorrow based off one line of dialogue in the next installment of Fletchings and Arrowheads, feel free to check it out and make a request.


	4. Bright Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lateness. See I participated in this wild and crazy thing called GishWhes. (You might have seen Stephen Amell retweet a pony likeness of himself. Yup. That was a GishWhes thing.) Look it up at GishWhes.com and participate next year. It's a bunch of fun and you meet really cool people along the way. It started the 1st and ended the 9th at 3am. Hence, my lateness. I'm just now getting back up to speed. 
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos, comments, and subscriptions. You make a gal feel loved and fuel the fire to write more. Internet high fives for everyone!
> 
> Again, AU.

April Fool's had come early.

 

That was the only logical reason why there were people on her front lawn, blinding her with flashes from cameras, screaming her name, and asking insane questions.

 

Deer in the headlights, she would not be.

 

She strut out to the car, deftly shoving a few obtrusive cameras out of her way,  and refusing not to give into their questions.

 

_Let's see, who could have done this. None of my boys, they'd all be too scared, and Barry's team aren't really pranksters. Hmmm, maybe it was that website I hacked last week, Four Changs or whatever. Nah, I made them tremble when they said those nasty things about Thea._

 

"What's it like to sleep with Oliver Queen? Especially now that he's gotten his money back. Is that the reason you're with him?" A snide, greasy haired man shoved his microphone in her face. Felicity felt her face contort with confusion. Someone thought she was a gold digger? With Oliver?!

 

"Excuse me," Felicity said, ramping up what Roy affectionately referred to as her loud voice. "I will need you to leave my property, before I alert the authorities. I have no time for your questions. You are all here for a story that doesn't exist."

 

Greasy man shoved himself in front of her again. "Come on, honey, tell us how you made head of Applied Sciences. Did you spread your legs for Palmer, like you did as Queen's secretary?"

 

The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. She calmly read his reporter's badge. _Peter Billings. It might as well say Professional ASSHOLE instead of journalist._

 

Gathering her thoughts, she ignored Billings. "Remove yourself from my premises immediately," she all but yelled. The journalists and paparazzi swooped in, cutting her off from her vehicle. There were just too many of them.

 

Picking up her phone, she disregarded several messages from Oliver and dialed Captain Lance. "Captain, I have a bit of a situation ---."

 

Lance sighed. "Queen already called me. I've got someone heading your way now. He'll likely beat my men there." She thanked him and hung up.

 

"The police are on their way!" Felicity yelled, but she was drowned out by the dozens of questions hurled her way.

 

"What's he like in bed? Cosmo would want to know!"

 

"Any chance you two would like to do an exclusive for TMZ? We love Oliver!"

 

"What's it like spending all his money?"

 

"How did the daughter of a Vegas waitress land a billionaire?" Another reporter chimed in. "On her back!" A small smattering of laughter reached her.

 

Anger and embarrassment started to take over. She couldn't reach her car but she couldn't escape the hurtful questions. It was a losing situation and she was starting to lose her cool.

 

Suddenly, the crowd parted. "Mr. Queen! Mr. Queen!"

 

Oliver appeared with Diggle in tow, his bodyguard face on and large muscles on full display. A few other guards and some police officers quickly stepped behind him, creating a perimeter around them.

 

"Step aside!" Diggle yelled. "Miss Smoak is late for work."

 

Oliver reached her and was careful not to touch her. Diggle stood in front of Peter Billings, dwarfing the greasy haired man by a good eight inches. "You okay?" Felicity shook her head no.

 

"Come on, Queen! Give us a story. We all know how she's keeping her position since Palmer is out! How many positions has she been with you?" Billings cried out.

 

Felicity instantly saw the change in Oliver. His Arrow face was on and he had drawn up to his full height. Adjusting his tie, he took a slow and even breath. Then he turned around, motioning for Diggle to let the man through.

 

"Mr. Billings," Oliver began. "Miss Smoak took the position of Executive Assistant as she was one of the only people I could trust in my company at the time. We are simply friends. She earned her way as head of the Applied Sciences division from her extensive knowledge of technology and her impressive education and career history. Ray Palmer was quite right to give her the position in the company she deserved and as reinstated CEO, that will not change. Miss Smoak has never propositioned myself or Mr. Palmer to advance her career. She'd never need to resort to such crass and lewd behavior. Perhaps that is how things work in your office, but not in my company." His voice dropped so only Felicity and the journalist heard him.

 

"So tell us, Mr. Billings, who did you have to screw to end up with this lousy gig?" Billing smirked. Oliver leaned in, eyes dark and slightly menacing. "Or better yet, tell us who you'll have to blow to keep it." The man had the decency to give a tiny gulp.

 

Oliver motioned to Dig, who guided Billings back beyond the perimeter. Then, Oliver turned and guided Felicity to his sedan, making sure she was safely in the car before he closed the door and entered from the other side.

 

Felicity watched as the police held back the crowd and Diggle spoke with a few of the officers.

 

"Felicity? You okay?"

 

She blinked and looked at Oliver. " 'Who you'll have to blow to keep it?' "

 

Oliver looked slightly sheepish. "I'm sorry that was --"

 

"What I wanted to say! God, that man was a prick. Ooo! Think of all the embarrassing stuff his boss will conveniently find on his computer. He'll never work in this city or as a journalist again!" She smiled with glee. "Thank you, Oliver."

 

"My pleasure," he said, returning her smile.

 

Dig got into the driver's seat, started the car, and merged onto the street, taking care not to hit any of the crazy paparazzi who wanted one last photo of the pair. He then caught Felicity's eye in the mirror.

 

"Wonder what they'll do when they find out you guys ARE dating."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, this one wasn't my favorite one so I kept it short. However, I like the idea of the paparazzi being taken down a few pegs.
> 
> I've got two more chapters after this one for this line of stories. The idea I had for the next chapter was left abandoned by my muse like a used chew toy. Bear with me as I entice him with bacon and candy. I hope to post Sunday, but it may be later on next week.
> 
> Have an AWESOME weekend everyone!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Please, no spoilers for the Mid Season Finale in the comments.


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